Although E-commerce is truly a convenient way to shop, most people still hesitate to make purchases online – and with good reason. The internet is practically a shopper’s badlands, where you may be ambushed or preyed upon by people who have the ability, the intent, and the resources to steal your most important asset: your personal information. Anything can be unsuspectingly taken from you, but you have more to lose if your credit card information is accessed without your authorization. Apart from identity thieves, you may also become a victim of credit card fraud.

Fortunately, the law is on your side; if you incur losses as a result of credit card fraud (whether online or offline), only a maximum of 50 dollars is held liable to you. The Federal Trade Commission has also taken some action to stop the practice of ‘information-selling’ made by credit-reporting agencies to junk-mail generators. The FTC enforced a cease-and-desist order to TransUnion for the same charges; TransUnion denied the charge and lost. You yourself can ensure that your private information is not sent to mailing lists. Your credit card application usually includes an option which allows the company to sell your information to their mailing lists; decline this offer.

The self-evident precautions are always the most effective. First of all, affix your signature on your credit card as soon as the clerk hands it to you. This makes the card truly identifiable to you, especially if it also bears your photo (and in some cards, your thumbprint is also affixed). Work out a unique way of entering your PIN, so that people will have a hard time memorizing your keystrokes once you use it on an ATM. Protect all of the information which are traceable to you – don’t forget to take your receipt from the machine. It contains your account number, and sometimes, even your PIN; identity thieves can have a field day with such details. Dispose of your statements and receipts if you have to; just make sure that you shred them first before you do so.

Do not provide sensitive credit card information over the phone if you weren’t the one who made the call. This is especially recommended if you are using a cordless phone. There are cheap devices which can eavesdrop on your conversation, and the culprit can do so from a very comfortable distance, even farther than your phone’s normal range. These con men usually call you back after you authorize an order, posing as the merchant you just did business with; if they request you to repeat the information, upon the reason that they may have made a mistake in taking certain details, ask for their contact references, and confer these with your merchant through a callback.

Do not entertain shady credit card offers which request you to make an upfront payment, and make sure that you receive your credit card right after you authorize a purchase. Rip up your voided transaction or cancelled slips by yourself. And finally (and probably the most significant measure against fraud), check your regular statements to ensure that all of the detailed charges are made by you; if you find errors or illegal charges on the statement, inform your card issuer at once. This will save you a lot of money and worries once the actual monthly bills come in.